The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio presents the adventures of several amateur gentleman detectives who solve crimes with their wits and for the thrill of it.

A Life In Your Hands

The forgotten, underrated Erle Stanley Gardener-created radio series A Life in Your Hands remains a diamond in the rough. It was a summer replacement for NBC in four different seasons with three different actors playing the lead role.

In many ways, it was a legal fantasy. Jonathan Kegg, a wealthy lawyer who was allowed to enter cases as amicus curiae, a friend of the court.  He would enter the courtroom representing neither prosecution nor defense and would cross-examine witnesses in order to determine what really happened. He’d never take a fee and never had a client other than truth.

While Gardner didn’t write the scripts, it reflected his high ideals. In real life, he and some colleagues worked for The Court of Last Resort, which would come to the aid of people who they believed may have been wrongfully accused. They would use all of their resources to uncover injustices, and if they found new evidence to suggest innocence, they’d fight to clear the innocent. .

Over four summers, A Life in Your Hands was an interesting, stimulating, and educational mystery program that’s well worth listening to for radio fans today.

The Casebook of Gregory Hood:

The Casebook of Gregory Hood began as a summer replacement for Sherlock Holmes over Mutual written by Sherlock Holmes writers Denis Green and Anthony Boucher.  When Sherlock Holmes didn’t return, the series continued to air through the whole 1946-47 season and would return in 1948 with Elliot Lewis in the lead before moving to ABC and continuing to air episodes into the 1950s.

The series followed the adventures of Gregory Hood, a suave San Francisco importer who also found himself often constantly involved in homicides. He’s aided in his adventure by aide the more down-to-earth company attorney Sanderson Taylor.

The Private Files of Rex Saunders:

Rex Harrison was a popular actor in the 1950s (though he’s most remembered for his work in the 1960s) and so NBC gave him his own radio series, as they did to many well-known stars during the first few years of the 1950s.

In many ways, the series bore a strong similarity to the previous Bulldog Drummond series as Rex Saunders travels works with an assistant helping out damsels in distress. Rex Saunders even has the same foghorn opening. as Bulldog DrummondThe series lasted fourteen weeks and ended abruptly with the final episode announcing details of a fifteenth-week program that would never be aired. The strength of the series is Harrison’s charisma and a few clever writing touches.

Also featured in this feed are rare episodes featuring detective adventures with characters such as the Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard) and A.J. Raffles as well as an audition for a series starring John Dehner as a crime-solving ex-judge.

Adam Graham hosts these old time radio episodes and they were originally released as part of The Great Detectives of Old TIme Radio podcast.